


Coming Home

by intomyfantasy



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-02-28 12:48:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2733104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intomyfantasy/pseuds/intomyfantasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto works himself until exhaustion as the Hokage of Konoha. Sasuke is God-knows-where doing God-knows-what. Both of them barely go back home, despite having a wife and children waiting for them there. Nobody ever asks them why.</p><p>DISCONTINUED. <br/>There's a chance that I'll come back to it, but it will be a revisited version. I don't make promises, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue + Realization

**Prologue**

 

 

Nobody was around anymore. Lights were off in the whole village, all the daily peaceful activities had been ceased for a while already.

Hinata looked outside the window, towards the Hogake office, and sighed, her arms wrapping around her waist, in a cold embrace. She had put the children to bed hours ago, but she could still hear Himawari ask in a little tired voice: _‘Is dad coming home today?’_. She asked every night, just before drifting off, a little spark of hope in her eyes. Hinata could only make a little smile, while tucking her bed muti-colored blanket: _‘He’ll kiss you goodnight as soon as he’s here’_ and Himawari would sleep.

Bolt wasn’t as easy to lie to.

Hinata closed her hands around her nightdress and kept looking straight. From the glass of the window, a pair of blue and disappointed eyes stared at her. She could recognize the anger, the sadness - Bolt had that look every night, and even if Hinata knew it wasn’t directed to her, she couldn’t help feeling her throat constrict and her heart throb guiltily in her chest every time she closed the distance between them to kiss the child’s forehead. Bolt never asked about his father. He just accepted the kiss, turned on his side, towards the wall, and breathed out a small _‘goodnight’_.

Hinata closed her eyes, turned around and, shutting out all her thoughts, forced herself to climb the king sized bed positioned in the middle of the room.

Naruto would not come. There was no reason to wait.

 

\---

 

In the Hokage’s office the only sound that could be heard was the typing on the keyboard of a computer.

Naruto was alone, just one little lamp on his wide old desk illuminating the room and permitting him to copy boring mission reports from the roll lying next to his computer to the data base of the village.

Sometimes he would slurp some ramen from his fuming cup, but otherwise wouldn’t budge his eyes from the screen.

He was almost done copying a level B mission report from almost 40 years prior, something about a jounin escorting an important person from the Hidden Mist Village to the Hidden Stone one, while they attended their not-so-legal affairs. Shinobis had no reason to put their nose in such matters, even if they knew about them. They were just mercenaries. Especially in the past, as long as paid the right amount, Shinobis would basically do anything. Naruto was very proud to be in the position to stop such missions from happening – he now decided what had to be done and was worth doing, and what, on the contrary, went against his ideals and morality and was therefore to be rejected. Not that anything particularly dangerous or twisted happened anymore, but if it did, Naruto liked to tell himself he would be a right judge.

While reading so many mission reports (he had started from the almost rotted rolls forgotten in the storehouse of the building, that still had the First Hogake’s seal, and went on in chronological order from there) he had realized that compared to his predecessors’ his job was almost ridiculous - since becoming Hokage Naruto had been bound to his desk, going through papers and rolls and basically getting bored.

For a long time, all people he knew had kept telling him to go home, relax and pass some time with his family, and at first he had done just that, but then—

Naruto shook his head, willing to stop thinking about it and concentrate on what he was doing. He could still copy some more, and then he could sleep. Hopefully.

It was way past 2 in the morning and he was tired, but he couldn’t stop. Not until he was completely drained and exhausted. Since Kurama’s awakening it took so damn long to get to there, but the fox tried his best not to interfere in the process, paying attention not to share his chakra, even if the need to do it was almost instantaneous when Naruto’s reached low levels.

When the Bijū had come out of his slumber after 10 years of sleeping, he had found Naruto on the verge of fainting and had shared such a copious amount of chakra that the blonde hadn’t been able to sleep for 3 days straight. He had then discovered (discovered, yes, because Naruto hadn’t said anything, he had just asked him not to share his chakra anymore) that what he thought had been an emergency, was actually everyday occurrence and the only way Naruto could bring himself to sleep until morning.

Every time Kurama tried to speak about it, Naruto ignored him, but the fox knew. Oh, how he knew. He had known for terribly long and had been so surprised to wake up 10 years later and see everything that had happened. Everything was misplaced and wrong and uncomfortable. Sometimes the fox still couldn’t believe his eyes and wondered _‘how did this all happen?’_ out loud making Naruto growl, anger bubbling, and Kurama expected him to appear in their shared subconscious, but Naruto never did and so he had learned not to ask.

Nobody asked anymore, it seemed.

Naruto went on copying rolls for almost three hours more, before drifting off with his computer still on and his head resting on the hard desk.

Kurama sighed and provided light waves of chakra, in secret, allowing the man to recover faster in his sleep, without waking him up.

Sometimes he wished he could at least cover the blonde with a blanket, but there was just so much a Bijū could do. 

 

\---

 

Birds chirped outside and the sun shone high already, when Sakura slowly cracked her eyes open. In front of her there was the nightstand, a simple, rectangular piece of wood topped by a pretty lamp and a vase full of pink and white roses. Sakura used to wish for them to be from Sasuke, but after a while she had just started enjoying them for what they were – Ino still being the best friend she could ever had and never forgetting about her.

She turned around, mumbling, and was so surprised to catch black hair in her peripheral vision she almost jumped up. Her heart sped up immediately before giving a sad throb when she realized the body lying next to her was way too small to be her husband’s.

_I’m so stupid…_

Sakura brought her delicate fingers on her daughter forehead, moving strands of rebellious hair behind her ear, with a little smile on her face.

Sarada was beautiful.

She wasn’t wearing glasses and slept with a peaceful expression, something Sakura rarely saw on the child – most of the times she would wear either a smug expression or a smirk, all the other times she would just be serious, looking so much older than she really was. It was incredible how much Sarada resembled her father. Despite almost never seeing him, she had picked up most of his habits and expressions. She even _looked_ like her father. There was almost nothing in Sarada that indicated that she was the child of her mother – people who saw them together always said the shape of their face looked the same or something as insignificant, but even for those, Sakura wondered if they didn’t come from Sarada’s grandmother, Mikoto, instead.

In moments of depression, while looking at the only picture, Sarada, Sasuke and she had taken together, she had asked herself if her husband despised her so much that he had found a way to erase her trace even from their daughter. But that couldn’t be true, could it? She was just paranoid.

But then why was Sasuke never home?

She thought he would stick around after giving birth to Sarada. She thought he would be an _awesome_ father, because he was an orphan. He _knew_ how painful it was to grow up without parents. But he didn’t.

He had been there the day of the birth, helping her going through it, and she had been so happy. He had been sweet. Sweeter than she had ever seen him. And for a moment she had thought they would work. That they _could_ work as a couple. That a child was what was missing between them.

Sasuke had looked at the little baby with so much emotion in his eyes, Sakura had started to tear up.

But after a medic-nin had placed the baby in her arms and Sasuke had touched her, something had completely shifted in his eyes, to the point Sakura had feared a panic attack, and he had exited the room without even embracing his child.

After that episode he had been away from home for two weeks, maybe more. She had waited for him to come back to name the baby, but after the first seven days, she had been so disappointed and angry she had literally chosen the first thing in her sight and named the baby after it, hoping it would be ridiculous enough for Sasuke to get angry and start to _care_.

He never did.

Sakura sighed, and kept caressing her daughter’s hair.

Just some years prior Sarada still used to ask where her father was, when was he coming back. But the more she grew, the less she asked. Even during those rare times when Sasuke visited and stopped for a day, maybe two, before disappearing for another month, she would never ask him where, or when, or _why_. She behaved as if he had always been there, trying to impress him and telling him stories – Sakura never heard her speak so much normally.

It was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

For all of them.

Sarada went to sleep with his father when he was home, but always woke up alone. So when she got in her mom’s bad during the night, Sakura knew she was missing him. Badly. But she would never ask him to stay home, contrary to her mother, when he was around. Sarada would always let him go.

Sakura never had the courage to ask why.

 

 

**Chapter 1: Realization**

 

 

 

 

 

  
**Valley of the End, after the war. **  
Sasuke and Naruto, 17.

 

 

 

 

Blow after blow, Sasuke kept on hurting Naruto as much as he could. He was putting all his strength into every punch and every kick, but none of those seemed enough to bring his opponent down. Naruto didn't have enough chakra to avoid his attacks anymore, his movements were sluggish and extremely slow, but even if he took them all straight on, to Sasuke it still felt like punching an unbreakable wall. The more he tried to hurt Naruto, the more his heart twisted in agony in his chest. 

He knew he was screaming. It was so uncharacteristic for him to make any sound whatsoever during a fight, that it almost made him laugh. He was so used to end fights with a straight face and silent killing intent (even if he didn't like to kill), but now he was  _screaming_ , his face probably twisted in a stupid frown. Maybe he was crying. Sometimes he realized he couldn't even see Naruto, while hitting him. Was he seriously punching him with his eyes closed? How stupid was that? What kind of ninja would even blink during such a deadly fight? 

On the other hand Naruto wasn't making a sound. He was fighting back, sure, and he was doing it properly, not keeping himself back like he had done at the beginning, but it wasn't enough. Naruto wasn't looking at him with the intent to hurt him - he kept his intense blue eyes on his face, with that stupid, affectionate and hurt gaze, even if one of his eyes could barely open anymore and waited. Was he waiting to be killed? Was he waiting for someone to come and save him (even if nobody could anymore)? What was he waiting for? Sasuke didn't understand. Sasuke never understood why Naruto's eyes never looked at him with hatred. He didn't understand why Naruto wouldn't just let him go. Why did the asshole have to be so fucking  _selfish_? 

Naruto hit him before his punch could land on the blonde, and Sasuke flown to the ground, his eyes still closed, and panted painfully. Why couldn't Naruto just give up on him? 

"Just... give up already", he muttered. 

Naruto didn't answer, and more punches and kicks ensued until they were just kneeling in front of each other. Their chakra barely enough to permit them to stay on the river surface without sinking.

Naruto hit Sasuke's forehead while the latter hit the other's stomach, but both their arms were trembling in the effort to be raised, and their punches felt mostly like caresses. Completely exhausted they kept staying in that position for a while too long, and Sasuke had the time to realize that it felt weirdly comforting. Like an embrace. 

Merely seconds later, the Uchiha was absorbing Kyuubi's chackra with his Rinnegan, hoping he could put this fight to an end. 

"This is one of the Rinnegan's powers. It's me, the one who has the eyes of the Uchiha Clan... that is destined to win". 

Chidori erupted from his left hand and Sasuke, who had gotten up with pure shear of will, looked down at his best friend. His only friend. The last important person he had. And while saying goodbye, launched himself towards the blonde. 

But he still couldn't do it. At the last moment his Sharingan deactivated and Naruto punched him so hard he hit a rock and almost destroyed it with the impact. If anyone had asked him if he had done it on purpose, Sasuke would have not be able to answer. 

"Over and over... And over again... Just be good and let me kill you". Who was he kidding? He had had more than one occasion to kill the blonde, but he had never been able to do it. 

"No way". 

Sasuke was almost surprised to hear Naruto's voice again. For a while he had almost thought he was just having a stupid dream and was fighting with his own subconsciousness. 

"Because I'm your one and only". 

_Friend_  was left hanging between them and Sasuke's heart clenched. He didn't want to hear it. He just wanted it all to end. 

He resorted to Kagutsuchi with the chakra that he had saved from the failed Chidori and got ready to attack again. Naruto managed to make a Rasengan and if Sasuke had had the strength, he would have smirked. The fucking dead last always managed to pull out some more chakra, it was almost ridiculous. 

Sasuke knew that he would be down for real after this attack. He would not be able to move a muscle anymore. 

Just before everything around them crumbled due to the impact and the sky ripped black and orange and blue, he wished Naruto could pull it off again. He wished Naruto could be the last one standing this time, and that he could do what Sasuke hadn't been able to do at their first fight at the Valley of the End. 

He was so tired...

 

 

 

 

\---

 

 

 

 

He regained consciousness and fought the instinct to scream. Everything hurt, to the point he couldn't even pin point where the pain was coming from. He could feel blood pulsing in his temples as if someone was stabbing him in the head every time his heart pumped, and felt so dizzy he couldn't tell if he was standing or lying on the floor. 

"Ugh..."

"Awake now, huh..." Naruto's voice made his heart pump even harder in his veins and his head burned in pain. 

"Ouch". 

As soon as the pain became more bearable, Sasuke turned his head slowly to the side, where the voice had come from, and blinked his eyes open. 

That's when he noticed. 

"It's just as you see it..." Naruto was lying next to him, his face covered in dirt, so bruised and swollen he could barely recognize him. But that wasn't what surprised him. 

Naruto's right forearm was gone. Completely. Not even a shred of it could be seen. Blood was flowing out of it incredibly slowly, despite the extended wound. 

Sasuke wondered for a moment if Kyuubi was already healing it, but then realized that, if the moon in the sky was any indication, he must had been out for hours already, and by then, if the Bijuu had been healing the wound, Naruto would have stopped bleeding. 

He was dying. 

"If we move too much, we'll bleed to death". 

_We?_

He didn't even have to look down to know - he was missing an arm too.  _Obviously_. There was no way the only one missing it would be Naruto, if he had lost it during the impact. 

Sasuke closed his eyes again, moving his eyes away from Naruto's face. 

He didn't care. If he was bleeding as much as Naruto he could be dead in a few hours. Maybe less. It was almost comforting. It was okay. 

In a second of pure selfishness his heart felt warm at the knowledge that Naruto was bleeding beside him. That the blonde was keeping his promise. That they were dying together. 

It was so stupid, really. But he was to tired and couldn't think straight anymore. Or maybe that was the straightest he had ever thought. 

"Look at you... Why do you insist on getting in my way?" Sasuke asked then. Despite everything, he still couldn't understand. "I fell into darkness and gained power my way, by cutting everyone away. It didn't matter who it was... I tried to cut the bond I had with everyone I had around me. But... You never thought of cutting ties with me..." Sasuke turned his head towards Naruto again. Because if they were going to never see each other again, he at least wanted to see Naruto's expression when he answered that question. It was a need he had. Deep inside. Sasuke didn't know what he was wishing to hear, but the longing he felt was suffocating him. "Why do you care so much about me?" he concluded, almost irritated. It didn't make sense. 

Naruto smiled. "Don't you already know?" he said, chuckling. "Heh, look at you, talking so much now that you can't move anymore..." 

"Shut up and answer me!" 

And then Naruto gave that answer, again: "Because you're my friend". 

Sasuke felt anger boil in his veins, probably the only thing flowing in there anymore, if his dizziness was any clue. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. It wasn't enough. "Friend" didn't make sense. It didn't sound right. There was more. Naruto wasn't telling him everything. There  _had_  to be more. 

"You already said that once", he reminded the blonde. "What does that mean... to you?" His voice died in a whisper on the last two words. The necessity to add that 'to you' suddenly put everything in its place. Realization drowned on Sasuke. 

"If you really want me to explain it, I'm not really sure how to put it. It's just that when I hear you blabbering about carrying everything on your shoulders..." 

Sasuke's heart twisted.

"I kinda feel... the pain too". 

Naruto didn't need to turn towards his friend to know Sasuke was looking at him with his eyes wide and surprised. He had never thought he would need to explain what he felt. He was the first one not understanding it. But it had always been there. Since they were kids, he had longed for Sasuke. For Sasuke's company and acceptance. For Sasuke's friendship and brotherhood. It was so strong it hurt. His longing made him go insane sometimes. It would always come before anything else. His dreams and his life included. It was so difficult to put in words what he felt that even telling Sasuke what he was saying felt incomplete and inaccurate. But the other had asked, and Naruto knew he had to try and answer. He knew his answer could change Sasuke now. "It really hurts... There's no way I can ignore it... Well, today I'm hurting all over so there isn't much I can do", he tried to make the atmosphere lighter. It frustrated him not to be able to use the right words. 

But Sasuke understood. 

In front of his eyes, looking so vulnerably at Naruto cringing in pain, the raven saw a way younger blonde walking around the village in complete solitude. He remembered, the relieve he had felt back then knowing he was not alone swimming in an ocean of loneliness. He remembered his desire to approach the other child and talk to him, to create a bond. He also remembered thinking it was a weakness he needed to get rid off. He remembered Team 7, he remembered caring for Sakura and Kakashi, but mostly hurting when Naruto hurt. He remembered Naruto resembling Itachi so much he had thought he would go crazy. Both of them walking in front of him - people he could never reach. 

When he opened his eyes again it was already morning. For a moment he thought he had died, but then a grunt coming from next to him made he realize he was still stubbornly alive. 

"Where are we? Don't tell me this is... Heaven?!" 

Sasuke would have snorted if he had had the strength. "Looks like we slept until morning", said instead. "Once again, you're still alive". 

"Gah...! Shit. I still can't move", retorted the blonde in frustration. His expression was contorted in pain, while he tried to bring any of his limbs to follow his commands without luck. "I wanted to punch you until you opened your eyes once and for all", he concluded. 

The raven was so out of it, he ended up laughing softly. Naruto's surprised face made it just all the more hilarious and Sasuke went out with a full voice laugh, feeling so light and incredulous he could have gone on for days. 

"W-what?!" 

"You still want to fight...? In your condition?" He almost went into another laughing fit. 

"Of curse!" yelled Naruto. "I'm not giving up---"

"I'll admit it", the raven interrupted him.

"Huh?"

Sasuke smiled, looking at the sun shining over them. His eyes clear, his voice steady and peaceful.

"I... lost".

And, honestly, he would have just closed his eyes once and for all after that admission, but Naruto's annoying voice filled his head instead. "IDIOT! There aren't winner or losers in this fight! I'm just trying to punch reason into a friend who won't listen!". 

The fond smile Sasuke was giving him almost broke Naruto in tears. 

"The real fight is after that!" 

Silence hanged for a while between them after that outburst, before the raven started speaking again. 

"Hey, Naruto..."

"Huh?"

"I finally acknowledged you..."  _There's no need to fight again. You don't have to prove anything anymore._  "If I die now, the destiny that according to the Heremit has bound us so far will end too". 

Naruto died a little inside. What was this idiot even talking about? 

"That would be revolutionary too", he went on. "You can just dissolve the Eternal Tsukuyomi after I die by transplanting my left eye into Kakashi..." Sasuke was _really_  tired. Knowing that Naruto felt like he did was enough. Naruto didn't need to sacrifice anything more for him. Knowing that Naruto's strength came from what Sasuke had always thought was a weakness, knowing that he could now take pleasure from that feeling without feeling guilt, that he could indulge in that warmth... It was enough. It was a good way to die. "I wanted to deal with you myself..." he concluded. 

"You... you can't deal with anything if you're dead!  _Live_  and help me out instead of dying! My dream is for all shinobis to work together, and that includes you too!" 

"Well... Even if it sits well with you, what about everyone else?" Sasuke wasn't so stupid to think the rest of the shinobi alliance would just accept him back as if it was nothing. He wasn't that delusional. He didn't even  _want_  to go back. Go back where? To Konoha? The place where all his family had been killed for the greater peace? The place that treated Itachi like he was the lowest scum? He had lost, sure, but he had some dignity left. Konoha was no home for him anymore. 

"Ugh, stop nitpicking will you? I swear I'll beat you up!"

_Moron._  "I could come for your ass again, you know." 

"Then I'll stop you again! Plus I don't think you'll do it anyway!"

"How... are you so sure?"  _How can you trust me so much when I did nothing but hurt you?_

"Don't make me repeat myself again! You still don't understand, do you! Huh, who would have known you would be so stupid---"

Naruto's voice died. 

Sasuke was crying. Facing away from him, Sasuke was seriously  _crying_. 

"Shut up,  _Usuratonkachi_..."

The blonde smiled. 

He had missed that stupid pet name. 

 

 

 

 

\---

 

 

**Somewhere around the world, 2 years after the war.**  
Sasuke and Naruto, 19.

 

 

 

 

Sasuke looked out of the window of the room he had rented for the night.

He had stopped in the little town after almost 1 month of uninterrupted wandering. He had spent the afternoon gathering some food and buying blankets and something he could wear during the winter. It was getting colder, and he didn't know when or where he would find another village. The money he had used, he had earned from rescuing a cat stuck on a high tree for an elderly woman. She had been so delighted and thankful for such a small thing, that she had given him enough money to afford to sleep under a roof for the first time after probably a year, maybe longer, and to take a hot shower, something he hadn't been able to do for far longer - Orochimaru's hideouts never provided hot water. 

He felt relaxed. Peaceful. 

He had received a falcon carrying a message from Juugo and the rest of the team just hours before, telling him how things were going in the fire country. They had asked him to be able to follow in his travelling, but how he had said no to Sakura, he had done the same to Team Taka. They understood. 

All of them were currently staying with Orochimaru and Kabuto, somewhere. They kept moving so it was difficult to track them. It was almost hilarious to think, but they had become... a family? Orochimaru was a sick fuck, but he had softened considerably after the war, it seemed, and now spent his time together with Kabuto trying to find a way to help Juugo get rid of his  _i-need-to-kill-someone_  moments. Karin was busy searching for old scrolls from the Uzumaki clan that could help the research, and Suigetsu entertained himself by being his usual annoying self and make her go out of her mind. 

It made him happy. That somehow he had given them something resembling a home, without even intending to. They were good companions. 

Outside, on the street that took to the market, a couple walked by, hand in hand. 

Just some months before Sasuke would have stopped at the sight. He would have told himself that that wasn't a couple. Couldn't possibly be a couple. Just really good friends? Because it was strange. Because they were two... males? But it wasn't the first time he saw something like that. He had seen people of the same sex in relationships in at least two more villages. He had seen them... doing more than holding hands. 

He didn't even know why it had surprised him so much the first time. He was Orochimaru's pupil, for fuck's sake. The Sannin had never been completely obvious about it, but now Sasuke recognized that Orochimaru was one of  _them_. He just had never known what  _them_  was. 

Sasuke wasn't the type to dwell on romantic relationships - he had never even thought about it before, not to mention  _sexual_  relationships. He had been completely immersed in revenge and more important things before to develop a stupid libido. But after he had started travelling, waking up with his crotch throbbing had become an annoying recurrence. He had been so ignorant that the first time he had simply immersed himself in the freezing water of the nearby river. It had worked. That was what he had used to do every time it happened until just a while ago. 

Only later he had realized that his body sought  _company_. 

He had thought for a moment to seek such company with a prostitute (they never desisted from asking him if he wanted to 'take a ride' in every town he ended up passing through), but had then remembered that the risk was too high - he was  _not_ going to pass the Uchiha gene. He would need to be completely crazy if he ever went close to having sex with a woman. 

The thought always helped killing his arousal. 

Male on male sex, though, was something else. 

Sasuke hadn't even known it was possible, let alone that people  _did_  it. 

He hadn't mean to spy on anybody that night. He had taken shelter in a stable, hidden behind some bale of hey when a couple, both probably older than him, had stumbled inside giggling and making kissing sounds. 

_For a second Sasuke kept still, paralyzed and ready to leave silently as soon as the two were distracted enough by each other not to notice something moving, but then looked closely at them, while they stripped of their shirts with smiles on their faces, and he realized they were both male._

_One of them was pretty muscular and big, with wild dark brown hair and a pair of hungry green eyes. Considering his ruined and dirty clothes and his very tan skin, Sasuke supposed the man had to be the stableman._

_On the other hand, the other boy had striking blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. His body was less muscular than the other man's but he definitely worked out someway, considering how lean and tonic all his muscles looked. His skin was fair and smooth. He had to be the son of the house lord or something._

_The bigger man was sucking on the other's neck, his hands touching everywhere they could reach and then starting to slip the blonde's man pants down, freeing quite an impressive erection._

_The lord moaned when his nipple was taken between lips and his dick started being pumped with a rough hand._

_"Ah... fuck, _more_ ". _

_"Yes, My Lord", chuckled the other, kissing down the blonde's body, and stroking his arousal faster._

_Sasuke shamefully sucked in a breath when the stableman took the other's penis in his mouth and the blonde screamed in pleasure, with his back arched and eyes closed._

_The moaning and the suction sounds made the raven's head spin and his whole body grew hot in an instant, but he didn't move. He was going to see this through._

_The blonde lord came all over the stableman's face and the latter licked his lips with a mischievous smirk. "You lack some resistance, Sir. I might need to train you with something better"._

_A satisfied smiled appeared on the blonde's face, who knelt to lick some cum dripping from the brunette's face._

_"It'll be rough, My Lord", whispered the bigger boy in the smaller one's ear._

_"I can take it", answered the other with seductive eyes._

_Before Sasuke could understand what they were talking about, the stableman rolled the blonde over and pushed his face to the ground, while the other raised his hips exposing his ass as much as he could._

_The brunette squeezed and massaged ass cheeks between his hands, before spreading them and licking the other's crack and hole, while the blonde moaned loudly and pleaded for more._

_Tongue was soon replaced by fingers which were replaced by a massive cock and in five minutes or less Sasuke was watching the bigger man slamming repeatedly and forcefully inside the blonde, who could only scream and moan and ask 'faster', while the other kept his head high by grabbing and pulling at his hair._

_Sasuke came when the blonde did._

Now he had erection again. It basically happened every time he thought of that couple fucking. Or dreamed about them. Or dreamed of himself fucking  _someone_ else. At the beginning it had been nobody specifically, just a body without a face, but recently... 

Sasuke brought his right hand on his crotch, massaging slowly while keeping his expression straight. 

He had become weak to carnal desire. Cold water didn't help anymore. It filled him with shame, but it felt too good, he couldn't help it. He was fucking crazy. 

_Goddammit._

His hand was already pumping his erection in his pants before he could even think of stopping. He loved it. He loved being rough to himself. Passing his thumb on the head insistently and close his hand too tight. He loved the friction, the foreskin sliding up and down on his shaft and the pre-come dripping and dirtying him. 

Sasuke closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the window, the glass fogging where his hot breath hit. 

It was ridiculous but Sasuke Uchiha couldn't stop himself from masturbating. He did it at least once a day, but sometimes he would go crazy in need and go on for hours. He would come and come and come again until he passed out and his groin hurt like a bitch. Until he was covered in his own seed and sweat, hidden somewhere in the middle of the forest. 

He imagined blonde hair and tan skin while he did it. Blue eyes and pink lips. A stupid and loud voice moaning his name. 

This time was no different. 

Sasuke bit his lower lip, drawing blood, and stroked faster, twisted his whist, pressed on his biggest vein, and brought the palm of his hand on the head to massage it. He repeated the process for a while, until his cock burned in his hand and seed started spilling from its tip. For a minute or so the sticky liquid wet his pants and the raven kept milking his orgasm out until not even a drop was left. 

In front of him Naruto looked at him covered in cum, with a knowing smirk on his face. 

Sasuke hit his head against the window, grunting, and hoped the image would disappear before his cock could twitch to life again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is currently unbetaed.
> 
> Okay, so this is a new fiction, and a chaptered one nonetheless! Don't ask me how many chapters I'm going to write because I have no idea. This is literally something that came out of nowhere in two days and a half lmao Despite this being a SasuNaru story I'm wishing to give the girls some dignity back too. Kishimoto is sexist but I'm not, while writing this story I'm hoping to solve the issues presented in chapter 700 as best as I can. I can't assure it will be perfect, because it will be mostly concentrated on Sasuke and Naruto, but still, I'll try. The first part of the chapter is taken from chapter 697 and 698 of the manga, so I went over it a bit fast, as you all know how that part of the story went. As for the second part... well, I think it's self explanatory XD
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy the story! See you soon!


	2. Requited and Rejected (Love)

  
**Konoha, 2 years after the war.**  
Sasuke and Naruto, 19.

  
  


Naruto and Sakura were eating together at Ichiraku's that night. Both of them sat in front of a bowl of fuming Miso Ramen each, but while the pink haired girl immediately helped herself with the food, Naruto kept staring at its surface with a frown on his face. 

Sakura posed her chopsticks back on her bowl, with a worried expression, after only a sip of the soup, and turned with all her body towards the blonde. 

"What's wrong, Naruto?" she asked knowingly. For Naruto not to swallow the whole portion of Ramen and order another in less that 3 seconds, something had to be _terribly_  wrong.

The boy didn't answer immediately, but his expression contorted further, making him look constipated. The kunoichi would have made fun of him, if she hadn't sensed the heaviness of the atmosphere. 

Her features softened in a knowing and affectionate look. 

"This is about Sasuke, isn't it?" 

Naruto kept staring at his Ramen and only moved his head slightly to nod.

"It's been 2 years since he left, but he's not getting any closer to the village..." he answered, softly. 

Sakura stared at him with a surprised look. "How do you know that?" 

A sigh escaped the blonde's lips, before he could take the chopsticks still resting on the counter, in front of him, and start to pick at the noodles in his bowl, moving them around in the soup, as if he was expecting them to jump out and play with him. 

"It's difficult to explain", he started again. His voice sounded tired. "I just... feel it". 

The pink haired girl kept looking at him with confused eyes. 

Naruto left his noodles alone to bring one of his hands in his hair and stretch his head, lost in thought. 

"That time Sasuke and me died during the war... that's when we met the Heremit of the 6 Paths the first time, you know?" he tried again. Sakura nodded. "And he did something... no, he  _said_  we were connected. Sasuke and me", he repeated, as if he wanted to make it as clear as possible. It sounded almost... possessive. "I don't know how it works, but now I just... feel him...? Ah, I said that already... I'm really not good at explaining". An embarrassed chuckle made the girl smile too, while she waited him to reformulate. "I can track him and his movements? I guess, I can put it like this... That's the reason why I let him go without a fight when he went... wherever he is now, in the first place". 

"You are telling me that you can sense his chakra?" Sakura inquired, to help herself create an image in her head of what Naruto was trying to show her with his words. 

"Yes... and no?" The blonde hit his head on the counter, making his bowl of Ramen almost spill soup on his hair. 

The kunoichi's hand reached out to move it further away, while waiting for Naruto to go on. 

It was rare these days to hear him speak of Sasuke. It seemed unbelievable, but she suspected he didn't like talking about the other boy because it made him itch with the need to go search for the raven. But he couldn't. Naruto was training to become Hokage and had to be constantly available. Also, Sasuke had asked him not to follow, and he respected that. It seemed like his restraint was breaking, though. 

"It's not about chakra... even if I can sense that too. I know when his chakra reaches extremely low levels and his life is in danger, but during these past 2 years it has never happened. I think he hasn't been fighting...? But no, it's more about... Sasuke himself. I can... sense him...? It's like... he's a little point of light in my head, that moves around...?"  _And a presence in my heart_ , he completed in his head. 

Sakura raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She knew that interrupting Naruto would just fluster him and make his blabbing even less comprehensible. 

"I know when he's close and when he's not". He raised from the counter and started gesticulating wildly. "When he's close the little light becomes big and goes  _bling bling_  like an alarm, and when he's far it becomes smaller and smaller and loses its intensity. I know it's not about chakra levels, I know he's okay and alive, he's just..." His expression fell and his eyes locked on the floor. "... _far_ ". 

Knowing and affectionate eyes observed him for some seconds. "You miss him", stated the girl, then. It wasn't a question. 

Naruto's ears went red and he started stuttering that that wasn't what he wanted to say, that he was only worried 'the asshole' wouldn't come back like he had said he would, but Sakura wouldn't be fooled. 

"I miss him too", she whispered, interrupting him and throwing a comforting smile in his direction. 

His expression went from longing to surprised, before the angles of his mouth turned up in an embarrassed grin. 

"That's normal, Sakura-chan", he said calmly. "You love him". 

The sincerity and confidence of the affirmation made her forget to breath for a second. Her lips parted to retort, but ended up closing without emitting a sound. Sure, she loved him... 

"Sakura-chan...?" Naruto tilted his head slightly to look at her better.

"I do..." she agreed with a small voice, after a small pause. "But you do too, don't you? We both love him". 

"That isn't the same kind of love!" protested the blonde with an outraged face. "Also, I don't love the bastard! Why would I even _like_  such a prick!"

Sakura almost laughed at him. "Why would you even  _miss_ such a  _prick_  I wonder?" she sing-songed, flustering her friend further. 

Naruto started blabbing about all the reasons why he was absolutely  _not_  missing the asshole and the kunoichi chuckled, while shaking her head. It was so much fun to tease him about his relationship with Sasuke. Everybody knew they felt strongly about each other by now, but Naruto never failed to embarrass himself when someone asked him about it. It made her miss Sasuke too... 

Just for a moment, while looking fondly at Naruto, somewhere in her head a voice whispered to her: _'you miss him because Naruto doesn't smile in the same way when Sasuke isn't around, don't you?_ ' and she almost chocked on her own spit, ending up in a coughing fit. 

Naruto stopped speaking to ask her if she was okay, but she dismissed him by telling him she was probably just getting sick because of the colder weather. Luckily, the blonde believed her and recommended to wear something warmer next time. 

"We should eat! Our ramen won't stay warm for much longer!" The pink haired girl exclaimed with a trembling smile, then, her heart still throbbing loudly in her chest. _What the hell? What was that?_  

"Are you sure you're okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto eyed her suspiciously. 

The kinoichi nodded vigorously and turned to start eating from her bowl again, hiding behind her hair and hoping her cheeks weren't as red as she  _knew_  they were. "Mhm...! This miso ramen is delicious!" she said instead.

The old man behind the counter thanked her and promised that he would give her one bowl for free next time, because it made him happy to have pretty costumers for a change. Naruto got distracted by that statement and complained loudly, saying he was pretty too, and Sakura sighed, relieved, the tension leaving her shoulders, before laughing at the ridiculous statement. 

Naruto ate happily for a while and and when Sakura took the courage to look at him again, it seemed his mood had improved. Or maybe he was just faking it...

"Nah, Naruto..." 

The boy turned towards her with noodles hanging from his mouth and his eyes big. 

"I'm sure Sasuke will be back soon. What me to find something to distract you with in the meantime?". 

 

\---

 

 

A week later, Naruto was waiting for Sakura around the park at 10 in the morning. 

She had asked him to help her taking the usual round around the village for the hospital and that they would meet there. Kakashi hadn't complained, saying that it was appropriate to show his face to the villagers sometimes, as the future Hokage, and that he would take care of the paperwork that day. 

After the war, nothing particularly threatening had happened, and most shinobis had been told to stay home and rest until further order. In the past year, though, they had taken as a personal mission to repopulate Konoha, it seemed, and the rate of births had sky rocked, forcing medinc-nins to take rounds around the village once a day to check on every mom's pregnancy and making sure everything was going smoothly, due to the lack of space in the hospital. That day it was Sakura's turn. 

When Naruto heard steps coming closer and almost called out for his friend, though, the person he was presented with definitely wasn't the pink haired kunoichi. 

"H-hinata?" Naruto stared dumbfounded at the girl in front of him. 

The Hyuuga girl fidgeted on the spot, looking nervous. 

She was dressed prettily and had a flower in her long straight hair. A long sleeved red dress exposed her collarbones and her bare legs by reaching just slightly higher than her knees. She was also wearing a pair of yukata sandals on her feet and carried a white purse. 

Naruto mentally thought that everything looked like something Sakura would wear in the summer. Wasn't she  _cold_? He shivered just looking at her. 

"S-sakura said she was sorry, but something c-came up at the hospital... S-she asked m-me to spend the day with y-you..." she explained, looking at the ground the whole time. 

A frown appeared on the boy's forehead, before he took off his jacket and offered it to the girl, gaining a surprised look and a soft 'thank you'. Naruto took the chance to scold her about her choice of clothes and she just looked at the floor again, her cheeks on flames. 

She was so strange... She had grown on him during all those years, and Naruto knew she was a good girl, but it didn't make her any less weird. Who in their right mind would go out dressed like that in the middle of October? 

While looking at her grabbing her purse for dear life and taking glances at him shyly through her fringe, Naruto suddenly remembered something. 

Ah. 

_Fuck_. 

She had  _confessed_  to him, hadn't she? How long ago had that _been_? 

At that time he hadn't paid much attention to the declaration, considering he was fighting against a very deadly Pain... and then the war had happened and during the past 2 years they had never really... made a proper discussion together. She probably wasn't in love with him anymore, right? But what if she was? He had never even  _answered_  to her! 

_Well, this is awkward_. 

"Uh... Sakura-chan and me just wanted to check on people around the village, so I don't really have anything planned... I guess we can still go greet them... check if they need something... or... something", he reasoned, clumsily.

Hinata just nodded, still not looking at him. 

"... okay, then. Let's go...?"

The girl nodded again without looking at him, nor saying a word. 

Naruto sighed at her with a resigned expression before turning around and start to walk. He really,  _really_  didn't get Hinata. 

The dark haired girl followed him around the village, without saying anything, always at least a meter behind him, and greeted all families they visited with a polite and gentle smile, gaining a lot of excitement out of all villagers, who went on about how surprised and honored they were of being visited not only by the future Hokage, but also by the Hyuuga heir.

Everything went pretty smoothly, in Naruto's opinion, at least until they reached the Yamanakas' Flower Shop and an excited Ino squealed at them and forced him to cover his hears with his hands in order to not go deaf.

"Oh. My.  _God_." 

"What?" asked Naruto, confused. 

Behind him Hinata went all shades of red. 

"I can't believe I'm finally seeing you two out on a date, I had almost lost all hope!" the blonde kunoichi exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes went big.  _A date...?_  He opened his mouth to say that that they weren't on a  _date_ , but then realized why the whole village seemed to stare at them with curious and knowing eyes. He had just shrugged it off as people fangirling over him like they had started to do since the end of the war, but turning around to look at Hinata dressed prettily and still wearing his jacket, his words died in his throat. 

A hand on his shoulder brought him back from his thoughts. 

"You better treat her properly or I'm gonna come for your balls, bro". 

The blonde shivered at the threat and turned to find Kiba grinning at him.

Outside, from the big windows of the shop, villagers were staring at them with big smiles on their faces.

 

\---

  
  


Naruto went to Sakura's home the same afternoon and forced the girl to have a talk with him. As he had suspected, his friend hand't been at the hospital when he had gone there to search for her. She didn't even try to deny it when they finally stopped around a corner where nobody could hear them and Naruto made her notice. 

"What are you trying to do?"

"Don't you think it's about time to give Hinata a chance?" Sakura had been looking at the floor, but raised her head then, to lock her bright aqua green eyes on the blonde. "The poor girl has confessed to you almost three years ago, now, Naruto... I just thought I could give you a little push", she concluded, shrugging, like it wasn't a big deal. 

"Sakura-chan, the whole village thinks we're dating now!" 

She chuckled. "Isn't it a good thing? She's pretty and she's from the most prestigious clan in Konoha. You're the future Hokage, Naruto... She's perfect for you. And she loves you, never forget that. She has for a long time now". 

"Yeah, but-"

"She's a good girl, Naruto. She's really shy and can come off as weird, but you know better than anyone else how much she admires you and how much she's willing to give up for you. Don't you think it's time to show her a bit of appreciat-"

"Sakura, let me speak!" Naruto slammed both his hands on the wall behind her, trapping the girl between his arms. 

His eyes were blazing blue and the kunoichi sucked a breath in, shutting her mouth.

Her heart started beating wildly again, like it did way too frequently these days. She knew he was dead serious now. He hand't used the  _-chan_  like he always did. She wondered if she would ever hear it again. 

"Is this your way to tell me you're sick of me?" he asked, almost trembling in anger. 

Sakura wanted to say that she wasn't sick of him, that wasn't it. But what was the point? It wasn't like what she wanted to say was much different. 

The girl ended up turning her head to the side and said nothing. 

"Naruto, I..."

"You're rejecting me, aren't you?" 

Her hands closed and her nails sunk in her palms. She nodded. "I'm so-"

A nervous laugh interrupted her, and she looked up at Naruto, surprised of his reaction. "Ah, I should have expected it", he exclaimed, smiling. Sakura could have recognized the fake-ness of it from miles away. "You've loved Sasuke from the start anyway, that's what made me fall for you in the first place", he continued with a soft voice. The girl felt her stomach constrict. The guilt eating her from inside. 

She was doing the right thing. 

This was right. 

"I understand, really... There was no need for all this, though. I wasn't going to insist with you... You and Sasuke are both really important to me, I've always wanted both of you to just be happy, so... I'll make sure to help you as soon as he's back, okay? I'm sure the bastard will come around, not even he can stay alone forever ah ah ah". 

"Naruto..."

"I mean, you're right - Hinata has been in love with me for as long as you've been for Sas-"

" _Naruto!_ " 

They finally locked eyes again and Sakura took his face between her trembling hands. 

Why was she shaking? Why couldn't she do this properly? Her eyes burned. 

"I need no help, dummy. I can take care of myself, I'm not a damsel in distress anymore, okay? I just want you to be happy, too... For all this time you've been by my side, you've protected me and loved me, and I'm... thankful". 

Fuck, she  _was_  so going to cry. 

"You are the brother I've never had, Naruto. I love you like you were. I'm sorry that's not what you want from me...", she whispered. "But, as you said, because you're so important to me, I want you to be happy. I want you to be able to find real and reciprocated love and stop worrying about me... or Sasuke. I'll always be here for you, and I'm sure Sasuke will be back soon enough. You have the right to live your life too, Naruto". 

Their eyes searched fot the other's understanding for a while, and when Naruto finally nodded, Sakura kissed him on the forehead whispering a trembling  _'Thank you'_. 

It was right then that she realized. 

Years before Sasuke had rejected her the same way. 

  
  


\---

  
  


  
**Konoha, 2 years 6 months after the war.**  
Sasuke and Naruto, 19.

 

Convincing the Hyuuga clan to accept him in the family had been extremely easy. Naruto had been way too nervous the day Hinata had took him to her father, but the old man had welcomed him with a smile on his face and had made a very proud speech in front of the whole clan. He had thanked him for accepting Hinata despite everything she lacked and assured him she would become an exemplar wife. Naruto had tried to say it was the opposite, that he was thankful that someone as important as Hinata had taken notice of a orphan like him, but had had no possibility to replicate when the man had started telling everyone how much the village had to thank to Naruto. He had highlighted more than one time that he was the Fourth Hokage's son and that would soon become the Seventh. Naruto had just smiled embarrassed. 

He hadn't realized the finality of the visit until it was done: he was going to marry Hinata. 

Naruto didn't know how they had ended up speaking of marriage. One day he was going out with her, barely speaking, and the next day they were announcing a wedding. Was that how it was supposed to work...? Sure, he liked Hinata. He really did. She was a good girl. During the time they had spent together - and that happened to be  _a lot_  of time - she had started speaking more comfortably. She didn't stutter anymore, and walked just half a step behind him. 

When he had a lot of paper work to do for Kakashi - that liked to use the excuse that he was Hokage just to fill up Tsunade's place and keep the place warm for Naruto and therefore wasn't supposed to work for real - Hinata always came by with a bento box full of delicious food for him: he had been delighted the first time. Nobody had ever showed him so much attention, so he had been happy to let her feed him too, while he bragged about it to Anbu guards and, really, anyone around. For a split second he had remembered the bell test he had had with Team 7 way too long before, and how Sasuke had fed him the same way while he was tied to a wood pole... His expression had fell a little at that, but he had kept eating and just thanked the girl again. 

The first kiss with Hinata had been awkward. They had been holding hands while walking back to the Hyuuga maison, and when they had reached the gate, he had kissed her goodbye. Just a little peck on the lips. Hanabi had exploded in joy. She had jumped out of nowhere - probably from behind a bush - and had woken up everyone to update them on what had happened. Naruto had escaped before the first curious head could pop out from behind one of the tatami doors of the house. 

After that they had learned to keep things as private as possible and, despite the inexperience from both parts, had managed to build a proper relationship. 

Naruto felt good with Hinata. She was a gentle and constant presence, it was nice to have her around. 

Now more than ever, he felt the need to have someone close by: he was missing his Team 7 days a lot. Sure, he saw Kakashi sensei basically everyday, but Sakura was barely around anymore. 

Their relationship had strained after she had rejected him and even if he hated it, he also didn't know how to fix the situation. More than being sad about the rejection, Naruto realized he missed her as a friend. They still talked once in a while, but he was busy with his Hokage training - stupid training, if he could say it, he never did anything exciting, a part from paper work and history researches - and she was working a lot at the hospital, so it was difficult to meet. When they did, Naruto could feel that something was still not right between them, despite telling her that he was okay and he didn't want more than being friends. Maybe she didn't believe him? So he had taken a bit of distance, hoping that demonstrating that he and Hinata were doing well would convince her and everything could go back how it had been. 

As for Sasuke... well, he seemed to have no intention to come back to Konoha. He wasn't going further away, of that Naruto was sure, because the little light kept shining: he was keeping himself on a sort of border. He never crossed the line, but never got closer either. Naruto wondered often what he was doing, what had he found there that prevented him from coming back... He had promised himself that as long as Sasuke didn't go further he would stay still and not follow him but the longing felt unbearable sometimes. 

The void in his heart was big and Hinata seemed the only person who was able to ease that discomfort. Even just for a while. It wasn't the same kind of comfort Sakura provided, but considering how he had felt about the rejection that couldn't have been love, right? So maybe the peaceful and easy relationship he had developed with Hinata was. It made sense to him.

 

\---

 

Naruto was in the Hokage office putting the Sixth Hokage seal on mission reports about the reconstruction of Konoha and the other villages with Kakashi - who was silently and lazily reading one of his hentai books next to him - when he first noticed. 

His head snapped up sharply and his hand, which was holding the seal, started shaking. 

Kakashi looked at him, his expression shifting from bored to serious and attentive in a second. "What's wrong, Naruto?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper, as if he was expecting someone to be spying on him and the blonde and to attack as soon as they realized they had been noticed. 

Just that instant the door opened and a smiling Hinata walked in. "Naruto-kun, your ben--" 

A kunai barely missed her and ended up stuck in the door frame, while the kunoichi's legs gave out for the shock, and she flopped down on the floor, her eyes wide and her expression terrified. "--to...", she concluded.

Kakashi immediately got up to apologize, but Naruto anticipated him. He walked the distance separating them and the dark haired girl in long strands, before helping her standing up - with a smile way too big plastered on his face - by grabbing her under the armpits, as he would with a baby, and lifting her up. "Hinata!" he exclaimed then, with a cheerful voice. 

"N-naruto... kun...?" The girl was looking at him with a confused expression, smiling slightly at his big grin and his sparkling eyes. 

The Sixth Hokage, now convinced that there was nobody threatening around, looked at his pupil with a scowl. Did he give Naruto too much paper work to do? The boy was smiling so wide he looked kinda nuts. 

"Hinata!" the blonde repeated, before he crushed the girl in a teddy bear hug and started spinning her around while repeating her name. His happiness was so contagious she started to laugh. 

When he let her put her feet on the ground again her head was spinning, but she still had the strength to ask what she had missed. 

He took her hands and pecked at her lips. 

"He's coming!" he answered, his voice trilling in excitement. 

"Coming...?" she asked, confused. "Who's coming?"

Naruto pecked her lips again. 

"Sasuke! Sasuke is coming home!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you can see I'm not, absolutely, following the event of The Last, which came out so shitty is not even worth mentioning or putting in this story. The explanation given through the movie for NaruHina becoming canon in 700 makes no sense whatsoever so here is mine! I hope I didn't go through this too quickly, but as I said at the beginning, the point of this fiction is to speak about Sasuke and Naruto, so really, one chapter is basically all I can write about the argument X'D Still, this was extremely necessary, also for Sakura, so I hope it wasn't too boring to read x)
> 
> The story is currently unbetaed.


	3. Observing

 

Naruto had been on an edge the whole week. Sometimes he stopped in the middle of whatever he was doing - walking, talking, working or even kissing Hinata -, before assuming a concentrated expression for a full minute and completely shut off the rest of the world. Whoever saw him having such an ‘episode’ always ended up either freaking out or being affronted: he didn’t answer anybody calling for him and didn’t move a muscle until the whole thing was over. Every time he finished whatever he did in his head, he smiled and went on with what he was doing, as if nothing had happened at all.

Some villagers were starting to spread rumors about their future Hokage being ill, some others betted on him just being in his premarital panic, considering that his marriage with the Hyuuga heir was due in less than a month. Just a minority thought it had to be something else, and only a few people, beside Naruto himself, knew the truth.

That day Naruto was outside, training kids from the academy. He did it very often those days, and the children were always happy to see him and ask him to teach them new jutstus or taijutsu moves. Girls especially got awfully excited. On clue, a bunch of girls started screaming from one of the second floor windows of the building.

Naruto flinched.  _Damn, how did Sasuke deal with this every day?_

The blonde had used to envy his teammate for his popularity during academy days. He had thought that it had to be nice to have all the girls fawn over you and ask you to share their bento or to play with them. He had hated the raven for having all that attention; the good kind of attention. Something he had never had the chance to experience. He had hated Sasuke for disliking it and shrugging every single person trying to get close to him off, because Naruto didn’t have anybody. Sasuke had had everything Naruto had wished for and hadn’t appreciate it. He had used to ask people what they found to be so interesting about the Uchiha, because deep down he had wanted to be him, but now that people treated him how they used to treat Sasuke back then, he wasn’t so sure he liked it that much. It was… tiring. And annoying after a while. He wasn’t going to complain, because, man, he had gone on and on about wanting all this for years, but he realized now that as a kid he had never really understood a thing. No wonder Sasuke was an ass, seriously. 

Fan girls were the worst. They took everything they could: Naruto gave them an inch, they took a mile. Someone had stolen his underwear one time! He couldn’t even do laundry peacefully anymore! If he didn’t have diplomatic reasons to be nice to them he would have definitely turned as sour as Sasuke, no shit. 

Speaking of which… Naruto’s eyebrow twitched impatiently. He couldn’t wait anymore. He was trembling with the desire to get this lesson over so he could spring away from the village: he had someone to welcome home. He would have done it one week prior if given the chance, but Kakashi sensei had told him not to “scare Sasuke off even before he’s back”. What did the old man even think Naruto could do, the blonde didn’t know. He had just wanted to meet the raven and… travel with him back to the village? Why he held this desire, he wasn’t sure, but after annoying the Sixth Hokage everyday he had got permission to reach Sasuke when he was 2 days far from Konoha. And today was that day. 

Honestly, he wouldn’t usually let Kakashi – or anyone else for all that mattered – order him around about Sasuke, but he had realized, after thinking about it, that Sasuke getting closer didn’t automatically mean he was coming back to the village. Maybe he planned to travel some more, just closer to Konoha? 

Therefore Naruto had patiently waited and followed the other’s path closely, stopping every once in a while to check the vision of that little light which constantly moved towards him in his head, until there had been no doubt that Sasuke was walking on a straight line that brought him to the village. At that point he had taken his decision and Kakashi had only been able to formally let him go. 

At midday, Naruto called the class off, insisting that he had a lot of work to do and no, he couldn’t show ‘that move’ again. 

“Next time, guys!” he exclaimed with a big smile and all the kids complained and whined for a while, before bowing and thanking him for the lesson. 

Naruto still got embarrassed at that. He wasn’t used to people showing him respect, more than anyone else kids. Konohamaru and his teammates had been the first ones to show him that kind of consideration back when he still was ‘the demon monster’, but recently the damned kid – and his friends consequently - had gotten cocky - namely after mastering the Rasengan - and wasn’t as fast at licking his ass as he had been back then. That was actually also the reason why Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon were his favorite kids. It almost felt equal between them, and Naruto missed feeling equal to someone a lot… Unfortunately, it was only ‘almost’. The kids were still kids after all. Not anymore in term of age, but still so in Naruto’s head.

The blonde left the academy courtyard before any little girl could run to him and beg him to try their homemade bento for lunch: he had no time today.

  


 

\---

  


 

Before the sun could set, Sasuke stopped in clearing in the forest, mostly protected from wind by high trees and prepared a little fireplace. He then put some blankets on the ground and went down the river to catch some fish for dinner. 

He needed more food today.

  


 

\---

  


 

The sun hadn’t been in sight for a while, when Sasuke heard the first steps behind him - not that he needed to  _hear_. Naruto’s light was shining so brightly that if it had been real he would have been blind by now, he couldn’t really ignore it. It had progressively become bigger and brighter during his journey back to Konoha, opposite of what had happened when he had left more than two years before. 

The raven had never crossed that invisible distance line that would have made him lose track of the blonde, during his journey. Even if they were far, and it still felt strange to have something inside him constantly assuring him of Naruto’s condition, Sasuke treasured the connection: it was his way to remember that he was never alone, even when sometimes he would fall in a slump and feel like he didn’t have reason to live anymore. It happened. Sometimes. It still happened, yeah. But Sasuke had seen enough of the world now and knew what he wanted to do, what he wanted Konoha to become, what  _he_  wanted to become. 

He had studied the fastest way back to the village and had started alternatively running and walking. That day, around the sun’s zenith Naruto had started to move towards him and Sasuke had almost felt the need to stop and let the blonde reach him by himself. For what reason, he was too embarrassed to answer. 

He had kept going. They would have to spend a night together anyway. 

“Took you long enough, Naruto”. 

Naruto’s heart jumped in his chest, while his eyes roamed over the back of the person sitting cross-dressed on the ground, in front of the fireplace. 

Shadows and light were dancing on a figure with wild dark hair, that reached wide shoulders, dressed in an  _horrible_  poncho. 

“Ah, bastard, you stopped sooner than usual! You made me do all the work”. 

The blonde could feel the smirk coming from the other, who didn’t answer him, in favor of stretching his hand – his remaining hand – towards the fireplace, where two big fishes fixed on wood sticks looked ready to be eaten. The raven took one and bit it, starting to chew. 

Naruto quickly took the remaining steps separating them and flopped down next to Sasuke without any grace, immediately taking the second fish available and savaging it in a second.   
They ate silently for a while, chewing and spitting fish bones, simply enjoying the other’s presence and warmth. The blonde could barely conceal the smile that kept threatening to just get wider and wider on his face.

“I can  _feel_  you grin all the way here even if I’m not looking at you, dumbass”. 

Naruto licked his fingers when he was done and threw the stick in the fire, before finally turning his head towards Sasuke. 

His breath caught. 

_Damn._  

The raven turned towards him too and their eyes locked and searched each other for a while. 

Sasuke’s eyebrow raised. 

“What happened to your hair?” 

Naruto kept staring dumbfounded for some more seconds, before he could connect the words. A frown appeared on his face. “What’s wrong with my hair?” 

His left hand went to the top of his head self consciously to stroke his short strands of gold, while Sasuke kept eyeing him with a little mocking smirk forming on his lips. “I thought growing up would do you good, but I guess not”. 

“I thought growing up would make you less of a bastard, but I guess not”. 

Sasuke honestly smiled at that and Naruto did too. They had been together for less than half an hour but it felt like they had never separated. 

The raven reached next to him, where he had previously gathered some red apples, and threw one to Naruto, who caught it with one hand and champed happily into it. 

“For your information is just a temporary look”, he started again, with his mouth full. Sasuke took another apple for himself. “I was trying it out… I don’t want to look exactly like my father on the Hokage mountain, ya know. He had longer hair, so I thought  _‘let’s try with short’_! I always look awesome anyway”. 

Sasuke snorted but didn’t comment on the self-compliment. “You’re going to become Hokage?” he repeated instead. 

“Ah… yeah… I guess”, Naruto answered, embarrassed. “I mean, not now. Kakashi sensei is the Sixth Hokage, have you heard?”

Sasuke nodded. Juugo had told him in a message a while back. 

“Tsunade baa-chan said she was tired after the war and couldn’t do it anymore”, Naruto continued, finishing his apple and throwing the core into the fire too. Sasuke imitated him. “She wanted me to step in her place but I was only 17, you know, and I don’t think I was really ready to be head of a whole village. I always said I wanted to become Hokage but in concrete I never knew what an Hokage did. So yeah, I’m getting trained to be one… in the future… don’t really know when exactly… and Kakashi is ‘keeping the chair warm’ for me, or that’s how he likes to phrase it”.

“That works. I have things I want to pass onto you too”. 

“Things you want to pass onto me? So you’re going to stay this time, to pass these things onto me?” he asked, hopeful. 

“I am”. 

Naruto’s smile just got bigger and dumber. Sasuke fought the need to roll his eyes, but couldn’t help the affectionate ‘dumbass’ that escaped his lips and the shake of his head.

The blonde looked happily at his best friend before resuming their previous conversation. “What do you know about look, anyway?”, he started, with a bit of indignation in his voice. “Have you seen  _your_  hair? The duck-butt is gone, I can’t believe it!” A hand reached out to touch inky strands and Sasuke followed the movement closely, without moving. “It still manages to stick out here and there, though. How does it even do it?” 

Light fingers brushed Sasuke’s head, just to see if the rebellious turfs of hair would stay down and straight, and Sasuke moved slightly to press into the touch. 

The almost imperceptible movement didn’t go unnoticed by Naruto, who searched for his friend’s eyes, and found them looking back at him with a strange intensity. There was something in those dark eyes that hadn’t been there 2 years before. 

The normal reaction would have been to retract his hand and Naruto definitely felt the need to do it; on the other hand, something heavy seemed to weight down on his stomach and push him to move his fingers towards Sasuke’s left check, instead, where he let them brush incredibly smooth skin and tuck inky stands behind the raven’s ear. His eyes never leaved Sasuke’s, not even for a second. 

Sasuke was beautiful. 

Despite how corny and out of place it sounded, that was what Naruto found himself thinking right then, while letting himself follow the lines of Sasuke’s face and draw a mental image in his head he never wished to forget. There was something extremely feminine and at the same time masculine in his best friend’s features. 

Back in academy days Naruto remembered calling the other ‘pretty boy’ to mock him, but thinking about it now, Naruto realized it hasn’t been much of a mock than the actual truth. 

Sasuke had always been as pretty as a girl, maybe even more than them, but at the same time his wary and serious expressions – and his sour personality - had put that trait of him on second place and made the delicate lines of his face look stronger and rougher. But now… there was something extremely different now. 

Sasuke’s eyebrows weren’t drawn toward his nose, as per usual, they were arcing nicely over deep black eyes bordered by very long eyelashes. His long hair made his gaze seem even more penetrating and partially hid the sharp line of his jaw line. His aristocratic nose lead the way to rosy and bow shaped lips, that didn’t curve down or pressed in a straight line, but stayed just slightly parted, releasing warm puffs of air. 

His features weren’t as delicate as before and he had definitely grown up, but he still looked like royalty: mesmerizing and untouchable. 

“Seeing something you like?” 

Hot breath hit Naruto’s lips. The blonde raised his eyes to meet Sasuke’s, and stumbled back when he how close he had gotten to the other. 

“I-I… I was observing”.

“Sure”, the raven snorted.

“Asshole. You just look… different”. 

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow, before slowly resting his head in his hand, supporting his elbow on crossed legs and expecting the other to go on.

Naruto followed the movement really closely, thinning his eyes, looking almost offended.

Sasuke smirked again. 

“Weird… Something is definitely weird, here. It’s not only about how you look, you’re behaving kinda weirdly too. There’s a different vibe about you”. 

“How so?”

“I don’t know, but it’s making my skin crawl. It almost feels like having Orochimaru in front of me”.

“Ah”. 

“Less creepy, more… dangerous”. 

“Dangerous, uh?” 

“Or something. I can’t really place it”. 

“And it makes you uncomfortable”. 

Naruto frowned. “It makes me wonder about what you’ve done during these 2 years and a half”, he corrected. “I’m pretty sure you haven’t been fighting… not much, at least, and definitely nothing dangerous… you are also still missing an arm – we’re going to have to talk about that and ask Tsunade baa-chan to fix it – but everything about you screams… predator”. 

“That sounds kinda stupid”. 

“Your hair is stupid, bastard. You look like a girl”. 

“Is that your way to say I’m attractive?” 

Naruto’s mouth fell open. “A-attractive?! Who said you are  _attractive_? I said you look like a girl, it was supposed to be an insult!”

“Was it now?”

“It was!”

The corner of Sasuke’s mouth curved and his eyes sparkled in amusement. “If you say so”. 

“You’re being so so weird. You’re gonna freak me out soon”. 

“I’m not doing anything”. 

“You are!” Naruto exclaimed. “You are smiling an awful lot and you’re looking at me like… like…”

“Like?” The encouragement came in an impossibly low voice and Naruto’s throat went dry. 

Naruto searched Sasuke’s expression in confusion, feeling fidgety and cornered for reasons he couldn’t pinpoint. It was an extremely strange feeling, something he was sure he had never experienced; something that made his hair stand up and his skin burn. Sasuke’s eyes looked even darker than usual and for a long while Naruto feld exposed and naked under that stare. 

“… like you want to eat me”, Naruto concluded, in a whisper. 

Sasuke just kept staring, not even blinking and Naruto found himself unable to move his eyes away. His hands, resting on his lap, started sweating, for seemingly no reason, before closing up and grabbing his pants tightly. 

The atmosphere had shifted. The easy going air around them - the comfortable mocking - had become terse of something akin to fearful anticipation and it weighted heavily on Naruto’s guts. He felt extremely nervous and on edge. The only sounds audible were the cracking of the fire and the rustle of leaves of the forest around them.

Naruto wanted to ask what was going on, why wasn’t Sasuke saying anything anymore, but ended up only moisten his dry bottom lip. Sasuke’s eyes followed his tongue and Naruto’s hands tightened. Suddenly the barely half meter separating them seemed way too little space. 

Before Naruto could bring himself to shift further away, Sasuke’s hand posed on his knee and his breath caught. His eyes swept momentary to the contact, before rising and sinking back in black iris. 

The hand raised slowly while Sasuke’s thumb drew circles in his inner thigh, making him lose concentration. His whole body felt funny. It was suddenly very hot and his thigh tingled where Sasuke’s hand touched. 

Naruto bit his bottom lip, barely containing a shiver.

“Sasuke…?” 

The thumb started pressing and massaging more insistently and Sasuke drew closer, causing Naruto to swallow his breath. “W-what are you doing…?”   
Sasuke inched even closer tilting his head slightly, never breaking eye-contact and parted his lips. Naruto’s stomach tightened and twisted, while puffs of hot hair hit his lips every time Sasuke breathed out.

Naruto soon found himself panting, unable to escape his friend’s black and glazed over eyes. 

He noted how long Sasuke’s eyelashes were, how his soft his skin looked, and lost himself in the feeling of Sasuke’s fingers brushing where his thigh joined his hip. Before he knew it, his mouth opened and his head tilted too, getting some millimeters closer. His heart pounded noisily in his ears, making blood rush south and his head fuzzy.

“Observing”, whispered then Sasuke, answering a question Naruto had already forgotten he had asked. Every syllable caused their lips to touch and a jolt of electricity passed through Naruto, who opened his mouth further, on auto-pilot. His eyelids lowered on unfocused eyes and his mouth watered. 

Neither of them moved after that. They kept breathing each other’s air with their lips parted, Sasuke’s hand still lazily drawing patterns on Naruto’s leg, making the blonde’s groin stir in anticipation. Naruto could taste Sasuke on his tongue without touching him and a trickle of saliva flowed out of his mouth, before a groan of frustration could leave his throat. Sasuke panted, and Naruto’s cock twitched. 

Images of himself lapping and sucking Sasuke’s tongue in his mouth while moaning and thrusting his hips hard and violently through the tight circle created by Sasuke’s fingers made his head spin and his erection swell. 

But then, with a smirk, Sasuke just moved away and retracted his hand, shattering whatever bubble of insanity had engulfed them until then. 

A whine almost left Naruto’s throat, but he caught himself before he could make a sound and frowned deeply, confused and still panting, resisting the need to close his legs. “W-what the hell, bastard?!”

“Hn”. 

“What were you trying to do?!” He exclaimed, outraged, while wiping his chin from saliva. His head was clearing way too slowly. Naruto still felt hot and bothered. 

“Checking something”.

“Checking what”, he snapped.

“If I could pass things I’ve learned onto you”. 

Something about that statement sounded extremely off and full of meanings Naruto wasn’t sure he could get. 

“Am I supposed to understand what you’re talking about?”

Sasuke smiled. “Not yet”. 

Naruto just looked at him like he had gone nuts, but the raven didn’t say anything else, and Naruto knew the discussion was over. For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, this took me super long and it isn't even 4k words OTL I'm sorry ;; I've been trying to work on a SasuNaru one shot for Christmas too, and I ended up having a block for both X'D Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^


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